**spoiler alert** Best book of this year and perhaps the last as well.
The author is a 20 smth years chemist in the skincare products industry with a P**spoiler alert** Best book of this year and perhaps the last as well.
The author is a 20 smth years chemist in the skincare products industry with a PHD in chemistry.
I loved this book because it delivered a topic such as Skincare as an engineering course.
I understood in 250 pages what skincare is all about, how to tackle different conditions like pigmentation, wrinkles, acne...etc
The most important part and probably the most interesting was categorizing the elements of skincare and displaying how a daily/nightly routine should look like.
Basically there are 4 pieces of the puzzle: - cleansers - moisturizers - suncreens - Actives (Exfoliants, Retinoids, Vitamin C, Niacinamides - Vit B6)
The author goes in depth explaining each of them what role they play, what types you can find in the market, what molecules they contain and how they interact with different types of skin. Most importantly how do you mix them up to create a balanced routine that befits your lifestyle.
While the first 3 elements should be considered the cornerstone, the Actives are the most interesting as they are actively improving/maintaining your skin/slowing aging process
Can't believe it made a grunt like me interested in such a "womanly" topic.
Congrats to the author for delivering such a functional book !...more
**spoiler alert** Woow , what a great book ! What a read ! I knew from the start this is great having been written by a couple of PHD's
So much interes**spoiler alert** Woow , what a great book ! What a read ! I knew from the start this is great having been written by a couple of PHD's
So much interesting information on why women have sex, the way they use sex to get what they want , how they can use it as a weapon for bonding, fending off poachers (rivals) , revenge, spiritual ....
Probably the most interesting chapter was the first explaining how women can actually smell good genes in a man. How their senses are way more developed than men in order to get "honest signals" of mates with good genes for reproduction and how there is always this compromise they must make: - a very good mating partner would ensure good genes for offsprings but would not use all his reosurces on them and the mother , he will likely cheat and find other females, while a good father would be a provider and ensure comfort but would not give the best genes.
Add to this the really interesting fact that women are attracted to the superior gene men while nearing ovulation after which they prefer the providers.
If i had this book wheh i was first starting out my career, i would've considered it a must read. Its like going back in time a bit, seeing first hand If i had this book wheh i was first starting out my career, i would've considered it a must read. Its like going back in time a bit, seeing first hand how the author disembowels legacy monster code - providing both C++ /Java code snippets examples (the monster+ the solution). I really enjoyed the chapters on slaying sticky singletons, blocking I/O static calls to databases and untested concrete hierarchies of classes.
The lesson of this book for me was: as soon as you get into a brown project, start writing tests, start putting your classes into test harnesses and see how deep you have to dive into the guts of the underlying system.
Once you do that you'll get a fairly good idea of the difficulty of your task
On the negatives: I found the examples in this book too focused on C++ (i got an iffy feeling when a book is too focused on a single programming languge).
I totally recommend this book for people that have to deal with legacy code or are not yet accustomed with the "modern approaches" (DRY, SOLID - which aren't that modern anymore anyway) or junior just starting out....more
Supet carte ! Cititi asta inainte sa va puna naiba sa cumparati un apartament. Cartea trateaza fiecare camera a unui apartament cu tepele tipice. Te tSupet carte ! Cititi asta inainte sa va puna naiba sa cumparati un apartament. Cartea trateaza fiecare camera a unui apartament cu tepele tipice. Te trece prin tot ce poate fi de kkt fie ca vorbim de baie in care deschiderea usii sparge closetul, apartamente "vin turcii" fara vestibul, sufragerii in care nu ai cum sa circuli si sa ai si masa cu televizor...etc.
Must-read si must keep cand va cumparati un apartament !...more
**spoiler alert** Great book covering the life of the junior british officrs in WW1 from their public schools draft, the journey from Britain to Franc**spoiler alert** Great book covering the life of the junior british officrs in WW1 from their public schools draft, the journey from Britain to France and Flanders , the entrance in the trenches, trench life , troop composition , morale, trench dangers, death , cammarederie, injury, billets , fun on leave and the eventual end of the war, getting back to civiliam life, wounds phisical and psichological and adendum.
This book is about the young britsh generation which was lost in WW1; young lords, knights, barons which attended the public schools like Eton, Oxford, Cambridge, imbued with the valors of honor, courage, fairplay , the creme a la creme, the most patriotic, and with high ideals part of the British society , THE ones that died in the largest proportion in WW1 compared to any other military rank.
They were the ones in the first line, the ones who had to jump over the trench parapet and run towards the noman's land straught into german machine guns and shelling, to inspire the regular soldiers to follow them .
The germans were prioritizing them over any other rank since they represented the core of the british doggedness and valor.
A whole generation of elite boys wiped out in just 4 years. It is said by many , this was a reason Britain lacked the skill to navigate the turbulent politics of the 30's.
Awesome read, penetrating all aspects of these young men short but glorious life....more
**spoiler alert** My experience with Faulkner's books so far has been like the sawtooth , a great book followed by a total garbage blabbering.
First bo**spoiler alert** My experience with Faulkner's books so far has been like the sawtooth , a great book followed by a total garbage blabbering.
First book was Light in August which was awesome, cut to the point, murder of black upon white neatly packed with southern atmosphere.
The next was Absalom a total trash , waiting 400 pages without any hint , and getting the whole story in the last 20 pages, full of useless southie blabber.
Then The Mansion was a total masterpiece happening in Mississippi...
And now behold the rule stands, another trash !
300 pages of useless southie negro blabber with hints here and there, add to this the fact that we have a Quentin female and a Quentine male , whose arcs overlap (similar to what Vargas Llosa does with multiple timelines) and you get a total shit show of trying to understand what the fuck happens there.
I didn't understand the plot completely , hell i didn't understand why Quentin was sometimes called as 'he' and sometimes as 'she'.
The ending was something along the lines of "shit happened , we move with our life"
Hemingway was right when he said to Faulkner he doesn't need 100 complicated to write a good story....
If i would've read this book first and only , i would've probably ditched Faulkner forever, now i feel like every book of his is like a tossing of a coin. Heads for masterpiece, tails for utter garbage.
And this shit book gets so much attention , unbelievable !...more
**spoiler alert** When you send a picture or some text over the internet, or you record your voice or some video , you make a call with someone, or wh**spoiler alert** When you send a picture or some text over the internet, or you record your voice or some video , you make a call with someone, or when DNA is replicated all of this can be seen as information and can be efficiently translated into a sequence of 0 or 1, that is BITS or binary format
This is what Claude Shannon gave to the world , a unified way of viewing , encoding , compressing information and sending it over a communication channel from the sender to the receiver. It was a blast, it changed the world as we know it. He was the ancestor of the digital age, the father of information theory , the theory upon whose shoulders lies the world we see today.
The second ground breaking theory was that Shannon solved the issue of noise. A sender encodes a message using a tranceiver , sends it over a channel, arriving at a receiver that decodes it. The channel is ALWAYS noisy , it will always distort your message. When you talk with someone over the phone , or on the street there is noise. When DNA is replicated , there are always faulty mutations that can lead to cancer , that is noise. When you send morse code , it can be distorted...etc.. So Shannon proved that there is a formula between the channel capacity, bandwidth and the ratio of noise to signal.
This second theory changed everything since it proved that if you can send messges with very high accurancy that are not affected by noise IF you keep your payload UNDER the channel's capacity.
But Shannon was not a man of ego or fame, what defines him was a brilliant playful mind always tinkering at some interesting mathematical-engineering problem. He had a brilliant intuition and he would first use his hands to tackle a problem (build a prototype) and then write the math to back it up. He didn't have time to fool around prizes , medals , fame glory ...he wanted to play , and played he did , monocycles , juggling , building robots , rat labyrinths.
What a book and what a man Claude Shannon was , and to think that he met and befriended, Alan Turing , Von Neumann , and many other collosus of his age in the 1940s and 1950s.
**spoiler alert** Before i say my opinion , you must understand i read this book (which is full of examples) without writing or testing the code sampl**spoiler alert** Before i say my opinion , you must understand i read this book (which is full of examples) without writing or testing the code samples, so i am highly biased !
Though i have read the first book of the author and it remains one of my favourite programming books, i feel this one was really cumbersome to underatand even having prior Erlang knowledge and despite the author explaining the concepts related to Property Based Testing really well.
The problem in my opinion is the language itself, Erlang. I found the examples written in it not suitable to understand what is going on there. The Erlang macros were really annoying and there is too much to understand about the framework PropEr and not about property based testing.
What i understood quite frankly from the begining is that you can't really do property based testing without an already mature existing framework on it....and this basically becomes learning a new framework....
I wad interested more in the theoretical concepts and how they could be used in general. I would have enjoyed less code and the content to be language agnostic....more
**spoiler alert** Tin minte, cum, la orele de istorie ni s-a vorbit despre glorioasa campanie din Carpati din 1916 , cum romanii au trecut muntii sa e**spoiler alert** Tin minte, cum, la orele de istorie ni s-a vorbit despre glorioasa campanie din Carpati din 1916 , cum romanii au trecut muntii sa elibereze Transilvania...si, mai tin minte si cum in toamna aceluiasi an , unitatile nemtesti blocate in acea vara pe frontul de vest (Marna, Somme, Verdun) s-au intors pe melagurile noastre si i-au pus pe ai nostri in retragere.
Apoi aflam, cum si bulgarii deschideau front in sudul munteniei si, cum, incet incet, frontul romanesc incepe sa dea inapoi....tot drumul (toata Campia Romana) pana in Moldova , abandonand totul (inclusiv Capitala).
Ce nu mi-sa spus este modul in care s-a desfasurat aceasta retragere.
Aceasta carte zugraveste toamna-iarna lui 1916 in care s-a desfasurat aceasta retragere ce reprezinta fara doar si poate, un dezastru national, care, cumva s-a tinut sub covor pana de curand.
Stefan Zeletin face parte din armata 1 romana, cea care a fost incartiruita in Moldova si trimisa in zona Pitesti sa stabilizeze frontul sa opreasca inaintarea nemtilor si sa ajute unitatile armate din muntenia. Armata aceasta a devenit ulterior protagonista acestei retrageri.
Nu a fost o retragere, a fost o fuga continua, in care nu s-a mai tinut cont de ordine , de pregatire militara, o fuga datorata incompetentei si nesimtirii statului major fata de propria armata.
S-a ajuns in situatia in care soldatii au fost nevoiti sa fuga sute de kilometri de dusman, cazand si murind de foame prin santuri, jefuind casele oamenilor din disperare.
Obositi de la zile intregi de marsuri de noapte, fara oprire (spre a nu fi incercuiti) , jegosi , fara arme, sau cu arme, dar, folosindu-le pe post de bate, fiindca nu primisera cartuse la ele, cu moralul distrus, rupti de regimentele si batalioanele lor , incontinuu hartuiti de mitraliere si obuzele dusmane, totul in timp ce statul major nu incearca in nici un fel sa asigure coeziunea , sa asigure ca rezervele acopera retragerea liniei intai , ca artileria acopera infanteria.
In mod normal, cand linia intai e strapunsa, rezerva si artileria trebuie sa ii acopere retragerea. In acest episod al Romaniei, artileria si rezerva ori de cate ori primeau stirea ca frontul e strapuns, erau primele care plecau, lasand linia intai intr-o continua fuga,dezolare si confuzie.
Nu numai ca plecau dar de cele mai multe ori nici nu dadeau de stire unitatilor de pe front.
Inchipuiti-va regimente intregi din linia intai dupa o zi epuizanta de lupta, plecau in mars organizat spre (initial) un anume sat crezand ca rezerva lor a pregatit o pozitie fortificata. Cand intrau in sat nu era urma de roman, dar dadeau piept cu mitralierele germane proaspat instalate pe acoperisurile caselor.
Soldatii ai sergentii erau obligati sa sada in pozitii ziua si sa fuga noaptea pe drumuri laturalnice si paduri spre a nu fi incercuiti. Si asta s-a intamplat pe intreaga distanta de 320 km , distanta dintre Pitesti si Focsani ! Zi de zi !
Singura deviza a statului major era : "inapoi pe front ca altfel pun artileria pe voi nenorocitilor', apoi pleca.
Stefan Zeletin estimeaza ca armata romana a pierdut usor peste 120 000 oameni in aceasta retragere, o majoritate covarsitoare datorita foamei si a oboselii , nicidecum a gloantelor dusmane.
Este surprinzator ca, cumva, ajungand armata la Focsani , in decurs de numai cateva luni, sub ajutotul misiunii franceze in Moldova , a reinviat din propria cenusa , si a oprit inaintarea germana in vara lui 1917 (glorioasele lupte de la Marasesti , Marasti si Oituz).
Romanii, sunt un neam brav si muncitor, doar ca, cumva ajungem mereu sa fim prinsi cu chilotii in vine in marile intemperii ale istoriei, si cumva, fix in acele momente, cand avem nevoie de o mana forte, de o calauza, cineva care sa preia fraiele, ajungem sa fim condusi de diversi "ilustri" anonimi. Pana la urma sub frica distrugerii totale, ne redresam si cu fatalitatea dar si ingeniuitatea balcanica razbim, luam deciziile bune, iesim cumva la suprafata, dar cu mari costuri, mai ales cu costuri care puteau fi evitate..... Apoi din aceste experiente nu tragem invataminte, dupa aceste episoade nu ne invatam minte....revenim iar in aceeasi mirobolanta ignoranta si indiferenta...si ciclul se repeta....more
**spoiler alert** Precum dintii de fierastrau - ciclul plictisitor-deosebit de captivant se tot repeta. Se incheie in mult alcool si oameni distrusi ti**spoiler alert** Precum dintii de fierastrau - ciclul plictisitor-deosebit de captivant se tot repeta. Se incheie in mult alcool si oameni distrusi tipic Fitzgerald...more
**spoiler alert** The book delivered on the basic theory of cryptograhpy and how general well know encryption schemes work (SHA256,MDN, TLS) and how t**spoiler alert** The book delivered on the basic theory of cryptograhpy and how general well know encryption schemes work (SHA256,MDN, TLS) and how they work.
That being said even though the author announced the book won't be too math heavy , i felt that he brought quite a lot of linear algebra into discussion. I was expecting him to focus on these algos as black boxes , and what you as an interface consumer of them should look at , when using or parametrizing them.
It was not really the case. Anyway i understood why prime numbers matter and how prime number factorization is the corneratone of cryptography.
That being said the book last chapter was SPECTACULAR I finally understood quantum algorhitms! Never anticipated they are based on numerical methods (matrix transformations)
I feel this book could've been a 4 if it was a bit trimmed of the formal mathematical demonstrations....more
**spoiler alert** Am inceput anul cum nu se putea mai bine cu povestea primei mari expeditii de explorare a Antarcticii.
La 1898 baiietii astia, o adun**spoiler alert** Am inceput anul cum nu se putea mai bine cu povestea primei mari expeditii de explorare a Antarcticii.
La 1898 baiietii astia, o adunatura pestrita de belgieni, norvegieni , al nostru Emil Racovita si altii , pornesc spre Antarctica la bordul vasului Belgica, si ajung sa ramana blocati pe banchiza de gheata in iarna emisferei sudice trecand prin chinuri groaznice datorate lipsei de lumina , a lipsei de mancare proaspete, a fricii continue ca nava va fi spulberata de gheata.
Vedem efectele devastatoare ale scorbutului, insomniei , fricii , depresiei , nebuniei , singuratatii si disperarii asupra mintii umane atunci cand este prinsa un cusca. Suspansul este prezent in fiecare capitol, fie nava este in pericol sa fie spulberata , fie marinarii in pericol sa cada in apa antarcticii , fie cineva innebuneste si fuge in noapte....o casa de nebuni...asa este denumita corabia in timpul incastrarii sale in gheata.
Vedem si setea de aventura, ideile nebunesti care se dovedesc eroice in acele momente (ex: taierea a unui poligon de 1.7 km lungime de gheata si 100m latime spre a elibera vasul din gheata ) .
Expeditia compusa din 18 oameni, ii are ca protagonisti pe: - Adrian de Gerlache , taticul misiunii cel care incropeste prima expeditie internationala , si care bazandu-se pe valorile patriotice ale tinerei republici belgiene reuseste sa stranga fonduri pentru calatorie. In cinstea sa Stramtoarea dintre America de Sud si Antarctica ii poarta numele. - Amundsen - norvegianul legendar care in ultima decada a lui 1800 cocheta cu cucerirea polului Nord , se antrena in nordul Norvegiei innoptand in pesteri. Pentru el aceasta calatorie reprezinta "boot camp"-ul pentru un sir legendar de cuceriri printre care si Polul Sud - Cook - doctorul american fara de care expeditia s-ar fi transformat in tragedie. El este primul care studiaza efectele lipsei soarelui si a luminii pe perioade indelungate asupra omului , primul care intuieste terapia cu culori , cel care ii tine in viata pe ai sai , si tamaduieste lipsa vitaminei C care provoaca scorbut (din lipsa de alimente proaspete) dandu-le colegilor sai sa manance carne de pinguin si foca cruda, tot el face design-ul cortului de tip conic , cort cr va fi folosit ani mai tarziu de Amundsen in timpul calatoriei cuceririi Polului Sud. Il avem si pe Lecointe capitanul , Emil Racovita care descopera sute de noi specimene de paraziti, plancton , si care in numele stiintei omoara zeci de specimene de pinguini , le diseca si le impaiaza (specimene ce se gasesc si astazi la muzeul de zoologie in Belgia) si multi alti savanti.
Pe langa faptul ca misiunea a fost superb descrisa , am apreciat foarte mult faptul ca am fost iluminat cu privire la istoria finalului de secol XIX si prima decada a celui urmator. Anii 1890 si 1900 sa acum impresia unei forfote neintrerupte , a unei curse intense intre exploratori pentru a cuceri cele mai inalte varfuri , cele mai indepartate tinuturi , cele mai neospitaliere puncte de pe pamant , si populatii intregi care alimentau aceaste curse, cumparand-le revistele, finantand-le expeditiile si totul in numele patriei, a gloriei si a stiintei.
Spre deosebire de Arctica unde corporatiile petroliere au acaparat regiunea su nu exista cooperare intee natiuni , Antarctica datorita lui de Gerlache si a urmasilor sai a ramas un loc pasnic , un loc al cooperari intre natiuni.
**spoiler alert** This book sparked my interest for travelling to the North Far East region of Asia especially along the border with Russia.
Erika does**spoiler alert** This book sparked my interest for travelling to the North Far East region of Asia especially along the border with Russia.
Erika does a terrific job adding geopolitic facts regarding the relationships of Russia with its neighbouring countries across the centuries.
I loved the chapter about the region of Manciuria and its uneasy history with both Japan and Russia.
Probably the most interesting was the Chinesse city of Harbin , city build mostly underground in case the nuclear holocaust would start , a city where one could spend its entire day underground and not see the light of day , also the city where japoanese had done Mengele-style experiment just before WW2.
I definetly want to visit the chinese far west province of Xianjiang , the home of Uighurs, turcik people getting discriminated and sent to concentration camps and their resistance via muslim apartenence.
I also enjoyed Erika-s journey in Kazakhstan , i understood the intricate ethnic composition of the population (russian minority in the north and Kazakh in the south) hence the leader moved the capital from Almaty to Astana to better oversee the russians. Also important sites like the Russian cosmodrome of Baikonur where Yuri Gagarin took off an Sputnik satelites made history.
I now have a more clear understanding of which regions are populated by turcik ethnical groups and where do the chinese start.
The Caucasus chapter was incredible , Georgia's fight and resistance against Russia , and how its border gets moved by a few meters everyday in the province of Abkhazia, or how Suhumi was a leader worldwide in medicine , having thousands of monkeys for testing. Armenia is also covered with its Nagorno Karabakh troubles
Ukraine is covered very well including the Donbass region (from both Russian and Ukrainian side).
The baltics were impresive , especially Lithuania and the utopia that the russians in Latvia are living.
Another very interesting part of the book was Finland complex history with Russia and also with Germany right before and during WW2. Being first under swedish rule , then its borders moved around , fighting Russia , then declaring itself friend of Russia.
A well made book full of juicy details, plenty of dialogues with the locals around the main subject of the book : how do you view Russia, how has Russia shaped your mentality and how has Russia influenced the state of affairs of your country along the centuries.
Its really incredible and many times shizophrenic how Russia's former subjects see its former big daddy.
Wonderdul book, well researched, i recommend it wholeheartedly !...more
**spoiler alert** Mare cocainar Paler asta, jumatate din carte am crezut ca omul e pe heroina/cocaina sau ceva psihedelice....cand defapt a scris poat**spoiler alert** Mare cocainar Paler asta, jumatate din carte am crezut ca omul e pe heroina/cocaina sau ceva psihedelice....cand defapt a scris poate romanul cu bataia cea mai lunga din ce am citit.
A construit o intreaga luma/scenariu/"script" in jurul ideii de frica de cum frica afecteaza societatea.
Este prima oara cand cineva isi ia indatorirea de a explica atat de laborios cat de nemernica este frica in societate si indiferenta fata de semenii nostri.
Fiecare dintre noi in goana noastra prin viata decidem sa ne izolam cu un asa numit "dom de sticla" , dom prin care nu mai putem auzi necazurile altora, tipetele lor de ajutor. Gonim uitandu-ne doar in fata zicandu-ne ca nu e problema noastra sa ii ascultam pe ceilalti cand in definitiv oricum cu totii ajungem in acelasi loc.
Poate cea mai grozava idee este aceea ca frica naste mai multa frica si incet incet, daca nu actionam, daca toti ne retragem in grota noastra sigura ca sa traim, societatea cade prada fricii, se degradeaza, iar cei ce favorizeaza frica capata puteri din ce in ce mai mari.
Mi-sa parut superb modul in care autorul spune ca mai vinovat decat Robespierre pentru toate crimele comise in timpul revolutiei franceze a fost insasi multimea. Multimea care de frica doar a asistat , a privit esafodul in timp ce executiile se desfasurau in lant. Multimea e cea mai vinovata , oamenii care au acceptat toate acestea de frica sau ca pe un spectacol.
Poate cel mai interesant a fost faptul ca executiile lui Robespierre ar fi continuat mult si bine caci avea gloata in jurul lui agregata ori de spaima ori pentru spectacol, pana cand dusmanii sai au trimis politisti sa-l inhate facand o declaratie multimii cum ca cei ce il sustin vor ajunge pe esafod si ei. In acel moment gloata s-a dezintegrat lasand-ul pe Robespierre prada celor cativa politisti.
Imi pare ca aceeasi situatie o gasim si in cadrul Orientului Mijlociu. Degeaba ni-se spune ca Islamul este o religie a pacii si ca doar X% din credinciosi sunt radicali. Daca restul de 99 % dosr asista si accepta inseamna ca tolereaza si ca sunt de acord cu asta. Multimea este mai nemernica si mai vinovata decat calaul si cel ce ordona aceste fapte oribile !
Cartea dupa mine, e un apel la societate intru lepadarea letargiei si a fricii noastre de zi cu zi. Vezi un seaman care tipa/care sufera, dute si intreaba-l ce a patit, nu il ignora crezand ca nu e treaba ta, caci facand aceasta doar te minti singur ca nu e problema ta, te retragi in cosmelia ta si raul castiga teren, empatia dispare,raul mai castiga un pic teren in ziua aceea
Am stat destul de mult sa deliberez ce nota sa dau acestei opere. Daca la 50% voiam sa ii ofer un maxim 2/5 dupa 90% pot spune ca am vazut in sfarsit imaginea de ansamblu , de ce a stat atata sa construiasca acest univers , aceasta fabula. Totusi cred ca m-as fi putut lipsi de mult din ce a scris. Daca ar fi fost doar partea de argumentare presarata cu argumentele istorice invocate ar fi fost un 5/5 fara doar si poate.
P.S daca va apucati sa o cititi, mergeti pana la capat chiar daca vi-se va parea ca consumati refularile, spasmele mentale ale unui nebun cu scte in regula, ale unui schizofrenic !...more
**spoiler alert** Cum as putea sa rezum in doar cateva randuri povestea multigenerationala a familiei Krupp , cea care a inarmat Prusia , Al Doilea Re**spoiler alert** Cum as putea sa rezum in doar cateva randuri povestea multigenerationala a familiei Krupp , cea care a inarmat Prusia , Al Doilea Reich , al Treilea Reich si RFG-ul ?
O opera pe cat de imensa cuprinzand istoria Krupp (1570-1970) pe atat de usor de citit.
1000 de pagini de istorie politica, istorie tehnica, geopolitica, razboi , si masinatiuni antreprenoriale la nivel global.
Personal am apreciat cel mai mult perioada 1850-1914 , perioada renasterii germane pe plan politic , teritorial si militar.
Am apreciat enorm nivelul de documentare si detaliu acordat istoriei procesuluiui de producere al otelului inca din pruncia sa la final de secol XVIII cand se experiementa cu diverse valturi, pana la presele mamut de zeci de tone de dupa al doilea razboi mondial.
Krupp a reprezentat timp de 200 de ani Germania , relatiile conducatorilor firmei cu conducatorii tarii (Bismarck, Wilhelm , Hitler, Adenauer) fiind de natura simbiotica.
Intre 1850-1970 dinastia a produs armament atat pentru Germania cat si pentru intregul mapamond, tunurile sale ajungand in Istanbul, Pekin, Rio de Janeiro, Cairo sau Tokyo. Pe langa tunuri "die Firma" a produs tancuri, tunuri, mortiere, submarine, crucisatoare, blindaje, aliaje, mitraliere dar si furnale pentru crematorii , turnuri de supraveghere pentru lagarele de concentrare si multe altele.
De-a lungul existentei sale Kruppianerii au incercat intotdeauna sa produca initial pentru industria grea civila dar din nefericire castigurile reduse i-au readus intotdeauna in industria de razboi.
In secolul XIX Krupp a livrat locomotive si cai ferate pentru Sua, Sudan si Orientul mijlociu , iar mai tarziu dupa WW2 firma sub obladuirea lui Alfried Krupp s-a diversificat increidibil in lumea a 3-a livrand la cheie laminoare, cocserii, fabrici intregi, camioane pentru cariere, masini-unelte pentru preluxrarea diverselor aliaje.
Am apreicat detaliile Razboiului Franco-Prusac din 1870 cand francezii au fost obliterati de primele tunuri din otel turnat acesta marcand definitiv eliminarea tunurilor din bronz.
Capitolele cel mai plicticoase (pentru mine) au fost paradoxal cele curpinzand WW2. S-a pus mult prea mult accent pe holocaust , pe sclavii rusi, evrei si polonezi care munceau pe branci in turnatoriile si laminoarele Krupp si modul in care erau batuti, bruscati , infometati , lasati sa moara si trimisi in crematoriile groazei. Stiam aceste lucruri iar ce nu stiam (gradul de implicare al corporatiilor germane) intuiam.
Poate cel mai fabulos este faptul ca mai toti barbatii Krupp au fost oameni deosebit de incercati de soarta , traind vieti aspre, fara rea multe placeri , dedicandu-se intru total firmei, a renumelui pe care l-au mostenit si incercand sa mareasca avutia si prestigiul acesteia de la generatie la generatie. Ultimul mostenitor al firmei, Arnold Krupp, a decis ca el va face lucrurile diferit , el va TRAI pentru EL si nu pentru FIRMA, si a facut ceea ce intemeitorul Alfred Krupp s-ar fi rasucit in mormand - a vandut-o , aceasta devenind o societate pe actiuni, actuala Thyssen Krupp de astazi.
**spoiler alert** After this book , i'm going to Malta soon ! This book is so intense and captivating and rich in detail and history and warfare that i**spoiler alert** After this book , i'm going to Malta soon ! This book is so intense and captivating and rich in detail and history and warfare that i can't praise it enough !
Its like Lord of The Rings - the battle for Helm's Deep with three fortresses instead of one. The Orcs and Uruk Hai would be the Ottomans (some ~30-40 000 people, including some 8000 Jannissaries, the best infantry of the 16 century and additional Iayalar fanatics , Algerians, Egyptian sappers, Serbians and even Romanians) The defenders would be 500 Knights of Saint John with abother 7500 maltese soldiers.
The siege of Malta represented the beginning of the end of the Ottoman expansion into the west Mediteranean ,(the end being the Battle of Lepanto).
The Knights of Saint John in the 16 century were the last knight order formed during the Crusades. After having to flee from Akko for Rhodes they were inevitably laid siege upon by the the Ottomans in 1522.
They had to surender and leave yet again, and wander and be nomads and corsairs for the next 20 years asking the kings of Western Europe for a domain for their Order. The Spanish Crown eventually gave them the barren island of Malta.
It is here where where the Grand Master La Valette had the foresight to create defenses knowing all too well that sometime during his life the Ottomans will set their eyes upon this strategic location.
The ottomans arrived in the spring of 1565 and started the greatest siege that ever existed.
The only hope for the Knights of St John ? Hold out as much as possible hoping reinfircements will arrive from Sicily.
The heroism , the barbary , the courage , resolve , wit , cunning of both forces is incredible. Its like a game of chess where each side tries to outplay the other ever changing its tactics.
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